Catherine Birch

CatherineinOz

Catherine Birch

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Until Australia!!

After a quarter-life crisis I have decided to explore the world a little and take a career break to go on a working holiday in Australia. I have set up this journal so you can all keep up with my adventures and will try to update regularly and add photographs.

To receive updates each time I add a new entry click the subscribe button next to the map of the world. I look forward to reading your comments and emails to keep me updated on life back home (hint, hint - keep in touch!)

Well the time has come for the final chapter of my travels (well this period of travel anyway). This must be my most belated update yet as I am actually back at home now but we won't tell anyone! My South Island of New Zealand travels started with a lot of new faces who were on a bus or two behind us originally but I still had Wendy with me and a few other 'old timers'. Our first stop was at a farm complete with llamas, we arrived there quite late so we had a BBQ and a few drinking games and then bed. The next morning we set off early for an 11km walk in Abel Tasman National Park which had amazing scenery similar to Tasmania. Once we arrived at our destination, Anchor Beach, we ... read more

Another slightly delayed entry as I have actually completed both of the New Zealand islands now and fly back to Sydney tomorrow! I have spent the last few days in Christchurch which isn't the most interesting of the New Zealand cities so thought I'd sit down and try and get up to date. My month in New Zealand has been amazing. I was on the Stray bus which I have thoroughly enjoyed, met lots of great people and felt I had just the right amount of time in most of places. I've definately fitted in a lot of activities but will deal with the North Island activities first! I started my trip in Auckland with just one night there before boarding the Stray bus early the following morning. We started with a drive up Mount Eden ... read more

This is a very backdated entry! I am actually sat in Taupo in New Zealand with a free afternoon and cheap internet so thought I would get myself up to date! In a nutshell - for the remainder of my time in Melbourne following on from my last blog I worked a lot, moved into a new city centre hostel, met up with a few faces from earlier on and currently in my travels and had a nice few leaving meals once I had finished work. I was involved in producing and formatting a large volume of documents for the new build Melbourne Exhibibition and Convention Centre with a really nice work team. I even stayed at a female collagues for a week during a 50 hour overtime stint! The International Comedy Festival was being held ... read more

The time has come for an update from Melbourne as I have been here a total of 7 weeks now, double the intended time but as I've learnt travelling plans just cannot be made when you are backpacking a country. As a follow on from my last entry I finally got a diagnosis from test results as to why I had been ill for so long......I had salmonella food poisoning from Fiji and as it had been so long it had been multiplying in my bowel - that explains why I felt so rotten. The Doctor prescribed me with very strong antibiotics which I had to stay out of the sunlight whilst I was on and made me feel ill but it cleared it up and I can almost eat everything again. Going way back to ... read more

I'd never have expected to have to use question marks after the statement that Fiji was tropical paradise but I'm afraid it is questionable. I'm back in Australia now (Melbourne to be precise) and haven't been at all well since Fiji but I am seeing the doctor and hope to be sorted soon! Unfortunately this has been the low point on my travels, let me elaborate; Days 1 -3 - Tropical Paradise Confirmed! I arrived from Sydney into Nadi airport to be greeted by local fijians playing instruments and singing at the airport which was a lovely touch. I got picked up by the hostel as arranged and taken to the hostel where Erin (the scottish girl I met on the East Coast) had already arrived. I spent the evening sitting by Nadi beach with Erin ... read more

Well another update already, which is a sign that I have been doing lots of fun things. I am writing this entry in two parts. I am currently in Hobart awaiting a bus later on in the day to take me to Launceston. I am really glad I came to Tasmania, I had a lot of people tell me there would be nothing to do except maybe hike through the wilderness (not really my cup of tea!) but I have been in HObart for a week and kept myself busy every day. I arrived late Monday evening last week and was thrown back into hostel life at the deep end. My room was split into two smaller rooms with 6 beds (3 sets of bunk beds in each) and all the lights were off so I ... read more

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you all had a fab time and have made plans for the new year. Christmas was a bit difficult as feels very strange spending it away from friends and family however I must say that I did have a great time thanks to my ozzy pals here. I also chose a great time to work as I benefitted from all the Christmas perks such as invites to 5 Christmas parties! Going back to where I left off with my last entry; I went to my first gig by myself a few days later. I went to see The Killers at Sydney Entertainment Centre and had a great time. I felt a little self conscious at first being the only one on my row but then I started talking to a group ... read more

Hello all! After a many hints and a few outright requests I got the impression it was time I did an update. Since I have spent the past month or so flat and job hunting I started to think that I had nothing to update about but then I reconsidered and I have done a few pretty cool things lately and have a pretty good lifestyle to match! Well after leaving sunny Perth I arrived in cold, wet rainy Sydney after a long flight and wasn't too impressed. I was instantly cheered up when my mate Andy who I've seen all the way along the east coast met up with me about an hour after I stepped off the shuttle bus and took me out with him and his mates. My first hostel was interesting, situated ... read more

Hello everybody! I am sat in my hostel aching from head to toe after a 4 day bus trip from Perth to Monkey Mia and back again.....thats about 1700 km return! A very long, exhausting journey but with great fun to be had along the way! I am now into my third week in Perth and have been on a lot of day trips out with various friends from the hostel exploring Perth. The hostel is a really friendly place, I arrived from Alice Springs and went walking (in the wrong direction of course!) to find a supermarket. On returning to the hostel I had decided that there was nothing in Perth and I was going to starve. My room was a 10 share with 9 guys and me but one of my new roomies kindly ... read more

Hello everyone! Well it's been 3 months since I left home and I am updating my blog from somewhere I never expected to be after having a day out that I wasn't expecting to do! I am in Alice Springs, Northern Territory and I have been here since last Thursday and leave for Perth (Western Australia) this Saturday. Before I left home I had no plans or desire to visit the outback whatsoever but since travelling I have got the travelbug and want to see the whole country and I am thoroughly enjoying doing just that. I must say Alice Springs has been one of my favourite places yet (I have quite a few favourites though! :p) Going back to my last entry, Louise and I went to the Mindil Night markets, listened to some great ... read more